おらしょ こころ旅

Registered asset

Nothern Nagasaki Prefecture

Tabira Church

  • Beginning in 1886, Father Raguet and Father de Rotz had some Christians from places such as Kuroshima and Shitsu migrate to Tabira.
  • Tabira church was designed and constructed by Tetsukawa Yosuke, with considerable help from local Christians themselves. It was completed in 1918.
  • The church is made from brick, and has a multilayered roof with a bell tower at the front.
  • The interior has three isles, with an arcade, triforium, and clerestory nave.
  • Tabira church is one of many churches which bear witness to the speed and strength with which Catholicism was revived throughout the Nagasaki region following the lifting of the ban on Christianity.

Related persons and terms(By hovering your mouse pointer over an item, explanation of the item are displayed.)

Camillus Costanzo

[Camillus Costanzo] Camillus Costanzo, a missionary of the Society of Jesus, came to Japan in 1605. He was exiled to Macau in 1614 but secretly infiltrated Japan in 1621 to preach in the Hirado area. He was captured on Ukujima Island in 1622 and was martyred by burning to death in Tabira.

Sanro Shiki

[Sanro Shiki ] Aisles (passages) extend from the entrance to the altar in a church building. The highest-ceilinged central passage is called the nave, and the lower-ceilinged side passages are called the side aisles. When there is one side aisle on each side of the nave, it is called a Sanro Shiki (three-aisle structure), and when there are two side aisles on each side of the nave, it is called a Goro Shiki (five-aisle structure.)

Martyrdom

[Martyrdom] Martyrdom is the act of choosing death and giving one's life to God rather than abandoning Christian faith and morals.

Discovery of Hidden Christians

[Discovery of Hidden Christians] The Discovery of Hidden Christians is an event in which several Senpuku Kirishitans (hidden Christians) in Urakami confessed their faith to a priest for the first time in about 250 years, in 1865, even when the ban on Christianity had not yet been lifted. This historical event happened at the Oura Cathedral built in the foreign settlement of Nagasaki.

Nave

[Nave] Nave refers to the central aisle from the entrance of a church to the main altar.

Side aisle

[Side aisle] A side aisle is the part of a church building that runs parallel to both sides of the nave.

Yosuke Tetsukawa

[Yosuke Tetsukawa] Yosuke Tetsukawa was a master builder and architect from Kamigoto. He received instruction in church architecture from Father Marc Marie de Rotz. Yosuke was later involved in constructing many church buildings on his own, mainly in Nagasaki.

Marc Marie de Rotz

[Marc Marie de Rotz] Marc Marie de Rotz, a missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, landed at Nagasaki as a diocesan bishop in 1868. After printing doctrinal books using lithography at Oura Cathedral, he was assigned as the parish priest of the Sotome area in 1879 and engaged in various welfare activities, including establishing an aid center. He also had a profound knowledge of architecture and was involved in the construction of Shitsu Church and Ono Church.

Biography & Glossary >>

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Articles related to this asset

  • Nothern Nagasaki Prefecture

    Christians in search of a new life

    As the Sotome region’s Catholics increased in number, some chose, under the guidance of foreign missionaries, to leave the villages where they had been living and go in search of a new life.

  • Nothern Nagasaki Prefecture

    A church built with the help of local Christians

    A red-coloured adhesive, made with shells from the surrounding area, was used in the church’s construction

  • Nothern Nagasaki Prefecture

    Two beautiful sets of stained glass

    Stained glass from Germany and Italy helps to illuminate the church’s interior

  • Nothern Nagasaki Prefecture

    Eternal Rest Grant Unto Them, O Lord…

    Next to the church is a graveyard, where earlier generations of Tabira’s Christians are buried

  • Nothern Nagasaki Prefecture

    Memories of church life

    Tabira church was at the very heart of peoples’ lives. Some would walk for hours in order to attend Mass.

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    レンガを担いで登った道

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    創建当時の素朴な色彩

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    貝殻の焼き場に関する新事実?

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    しかし、よく見ると貝を焼いた跡が無いことに気づく

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    今日はどんな鐘の音?

    教会堂の多くが、自動機械によって鐘の音を鳴らす中、田平天主堂は今も信徒による人力で鳴らしている

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    黒崎教会堂の木材は田平産!?

    田平にできるだけ大きな教会堂を建てたかった中田神父と鉄川与助は、切り出した木材の長さに納得しなかった

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